第44章

TheDukeofDatchet，comingoutofthebank，lingeredforamomentonthesteps。Inonehandhecarriedacanvasbagwhichseemedwellweighted。Onhiscountenancetherewasanexpressionwhichtoacasualobservermighthavesuggestedthathisgracewasnotcompletelyathisease。Thatcasualobserverhappenedtocomestrollingby。IttooktheformofIvorDacre。 Mr。DacrelookedtheDukeofDatchetupanddowninthatlanguidwayhehas。Heperceivedthecanvasbag。Thenheremarked，possiblyintendingtobefacetious: “Beenrobbingthebank？ShallIcallacart？“ NobodymindswhatIvorDacresays。Besides，heistheduke’sowncousin。Perhapsalittleremoved；still，thereitis。Sothedukesmiledasicklysmile，asifMr。Dacre’sdelicatewithadgivenhimapassingtouchofindigestion。 Mr。Dacrenoticedthatthedukelookedsallow，sohegavehisprettysenseofhumoranotherairing。 “Kitchenboilerburst？WhenIsawtheduchessjustnowIwonderedifithad。“ Hisgracedistinctlystarted。Healmostdroppedthecanvasbag。 “Yousawtheduchessjustnow，Ivor！When？“ Thedukewasevidentlymoved。Mr。Dacrewasstirredtolanguidcuriosity。“Ican’tsayIclockedit。Perhapshalfanhourago； perhapsalittlemore。“ “Halfanhourago！Areyousure？Wheredidyouseeher？“ Mr。Dacrewondered。TheDuchessofDatchetcouldscarcelyhavebeenelopinginbroaddaylight。Moreover，shehadnotyetbeenmarriedayear。Everyoneknewthatsheandthedukewerestillasfondofeachotherasiftheywerenotmanandwife。So，althoughtheduke，forsomecauseorother，wasevidentlyinanoddstateofagitation，Mr。Dacresawnoreasonwhyheshouldnotmakeacleanbreastofallheknew。 “Shewasgoinglikeblazesinahansomcab。“ “Inahansomcab？Where？“ “DownWaterlooPlace。“ “Wasshealone？“ Mr。Dacrereflected。Heglancedatthedukeoutofthecornersofhiseyes。Hislanguidutterancebecameapositivedrawl。 “Iratherfancythatshewasn’t。“ “Whowaswithher？“ “Mydearfellow，ifyouweretooffermethebankIcouldn’ttellyou。“ “Wasitaman？“ Mr。Dacre’sdrawlbecamestillmorepronounced。 “Iratherfancythatitwas。“ Mr。Dacreexpectedsomething。Thedukewassoexcited。Buthebynomeansexpectedwhatactuallycame。 “Ivor，she’sbeenkidnaped！“ Mr。Dacredidwhathehadneverbeenknowntodobeforewithinthememoryofman——hedroppedhiseyeglass。 “Datchet！“ “Shehas！Somescoundrelhasdecoyedheraway，andtrappedher。 He’salreadysentmealockofherhair，andhetellsmethatifI don’tlethimhavefivehundredpoundsingoldbyhalf-pastfivehe’llletmehaveherlittlefinger。“ Mr。Dacredidnotknowwhattomakeofhisgraceatall。Hewasasoberman——itCOULDN’Tbethat！Mr。Dacrefeltreallyconcerned。 “I’llcallacab，oldman，andyou’dbetterletmeseeyouhome。“ Mr。Dacrehalfraisedhissticktohailapassinghansom。Thedukecaughthimbythearm。 “Youass！Whatdoyoumean？Iamtellingyouthesimpletruth。 Mywife’sbeenkidnaped。“ Mr。Dacre’scountenancewasathingtobeseen——andremembered。 “Oh！Ihadn’theardthattherewasmuchofthatsortofthingaboutjustnow。Theytalkofpoodlesbeingkidnaped，butasforduchesses——You’dreallybetterletmecallthatcab。“ “Ivor，doyouwantmetokickyou？Don’tyouseethattomeit’saquestionoflifeanddeath？I’vebeenintheretogetthemoney。“ Hisgracemotionedtowardthebank。“I’mgoingtotakeittothescoundrelwhohasmydarlingathismercy。Letmebuthaveherhandinmineagain，andheshallcontinuetopayforeverysovereignwithtearsofblooduntilhedies。“ “Lookhere，Datchet，Idon’tknowifyou’rehavingajokewithme，orifyou’renotwell——“ Thedukesteppedimpatientlyintotheroadway。 “Ivor，you’reafool！Can’tyoutelljestfromearnest，healthfromdisease？I’moff！Areyoucomingwithme？ItwouldbeaswellthatIshouldhaveawitness。“ “Whereareyouoffto？“ “TotheotherendoftheArcade。“ “Whoisthegentlemanyouexpecttohavethepleasureofmeetingthere？“ “HowshouldIknow？“Theduketookaletterfromhispocket——itwastheletterwhichhadjustarrived。“Thefellowistowearawhitetophat，andagardeniainhisbuttonhole。“ “Whatisityouhavethere？“ “It’stheletterwhichbroughtthenews——lookforyourselfandsee； but，forGod’ssake，makehaste！“Hisgraceglancedathiswatch。 “It’salreadytwentyafterfive。“ “Anddoyoumeantosaythatonthestrengthofalettersuchasthisyouaregoingtohandoverfivehundredpoundsto——“ ThedukecutMr。Dacreshort。 “Whatarefivehundredpoundstome？Besides，youdon’tknowall。 Thereisanotherletter。AndIhaveheardfromMabel。ButIwilltellyouallaboutitlater。Ifyouarecoming，come！“ Foldinguptheletter，Mr。Dacrereturnedittotheduke。 “Asyousay，whatarefivehundredpoundstoyou？It’saswelltheyarenotasmuchtoyouastheyaretome，orI’mafraid——“ “Hangit，Ivor，doproseafterwards！“ Thedukehurriedacrosstheroad。Mr。Dacrehastenedafterhim。 AstheyenteredtheArcadetheypassedaconstable。Mr。Dacretouchedhiscompanion’sarm。 “Don’tyouthinkwe’dbetteraskourfriendinbluetowalkbehindus？Hisneighborhoodmightbehandy。“ “Nonsense！“Thedukestoppedshort。“Ivor，thisismyaffair，notyours。Ifyouarenotcontenttoplaythepartofsilentwitness，besogoodastoleaveme。“ “MydearDatchet，I’mentirelyatyourservice。Icanbeeverywhitasinsaneasyou，Idoassureyou。“ SidebysidetheymovedrapidlydowntheBurlingtonArcade。Thedukewasobviouslyinastateoftheextremestnervoustension。 Mr。Dacrewasequallyobviouslyinastateofthemostsupremeenjoyment。Peoplestaredastheyrushedpast。Thedukesawnothing。Mr。Dacresaweverything，andsmiled。 WhentheyreachedthePiccadillyendoftheArcadethedukepulledup。Helookedabouthim。Mr。Dacrealsolookedabouthim。 “Iseenothingofyourwhite-hattedandgardenia-buttonholedfriend，“saidIvor。 Thedukereferredtohiswatch。 “It’snotyethalf-pastfive。I’muptotime。“ Mr。Dacreheldhisstickinfrontofhimandleanedonit。Heindulgedhimselfwithabeatificsmile。 “Itstrikesme，mydearDatchet，thatyou’vebeenthevictimofoneofthefinestthingsinhoaxes——“ “IhopeIhaven’tkeptyouwaiting。“ ThevoicewhichinterruptedMr。Dacrecamefromtherear。Whiletheywerelookinginfrontofthemsomeoneapproachedthemfrombehind，apparentlycomingoutoftheshopwhichwasattheirbacks。 Thespeakerlookedagentleman。Hesoundedlikeone，too。 Costume，appearance，manner，werebeyondreproach——evenbeyondthecriticismoftwosuchkeencriticsaswerethese。ThegloriousattireofaLondondandywassurmountedwithabeautifulwhitetophat。Inhisbuttonholewasamagnificentgardenia。 Inagethestrangerwasscarcelymorethanaboy，andasunny- faced，handsomeboyatthat。Hischeekswerehairless，hiseyeswereblue。Hissmilewasnotonlyinnocent，itwasbland。NeverwasthereamoreconspicuousillustrationofthatreposewhichstampsthecasteofVeredeVere。 Thedukelookedathimandglowered。Mr。Dacrelookedathimandsmiled。 “Whoareyou？“askedtheduke。 “Ah——thatisthequestion！“Thenewcomer’srefinedandmusicalvoicebreathedtheverysoulofaffability。“Iamanindividualwhoissounfortunateastobeinwantoffivehundredpounds。“ “Areyouthescoundrelwhosentmethatinfamousletter？“ Thecharmingstrangerneverturnedahair。 “IamthescoundrelmentionedinthatinfamousletterwhowantstoaccostyouatthePiccadillyendoftheBurlingtonArcadebeforehalf-pastfive——aswitnessmywhitehatandmygardenia。“ “Where’smywife？“ Thestrangergentlyswunghisstickinfrontofhimwithhistwohands。Heregardedthedukeasamerry-heartedsonmightregardhisfather。Thethingwasbeautiful！ “Hergracewillbehomealmostassoonasyouare——whenyouhavegivenmethemoneywhichIperceiveyouhaveallreadyformeinthatscarcelyelegant-lookingcanvasbag。“Heshruggedhisshouldersquitegracefully。“Unfortunately，inthesemattersonehasnochoice——oneisforcedtoaskforgold。“ “Andsuppose，insteadofgivingyouwhatisinthiscanvasbag，I takeyoubythethroatandchoketheliferightoutofyou？“ “Orsuppose，“amendedMr。Dacre，“thatyoudobetter，andcommendthisgentlemantothetendermerciesofthefirstpolicemanweencounter。“ ThestrangerturnedtoMr。Dacre。Hecondescendedtobecomeconsciousofhispresence。 “Isthisgentlemanyourgrace’sfriend？Ah——Mr。Dacre，Iperceive！ IhavethehonorofknowingMr。Dacre，though，possibly，Iamunknowntohim。“ “Youwere——untilthismoment。“ Withanairylittlelaughthestrangerreturnedtotheduke。Hebrushedaninvisiblespeckofdustoffthesleeveofhiscoat。 “Ashasbeenintimatedinthatinfamousletter，hisgraceisatperfectlibertytogivemeintocustody——whynot？Only“——hesaiditwithhisboyishsmile——“ifaparticularcommunicationisnotreceivedfrommeincertainquarterswithinacertaintimetheDuchessofDatchet’sbeautifulwhitearmwillbehackedoffattheshoulder。“ “Youhound！“ Thedukewouldhavetakenthestrangerbythethroat，andhavedonehisbesttochoketheliferightoutofhimthenandthere，ifMr。 Dacrehadnotintervened。 “Steady，oldman！“Mr。Dacreturnedtothestranger。“Youappeartobeaprettysortofascoundrel。“ Thestrangergavehisshouldersthatalmostimperceptibleshrug。 “Oh，mydearDacre，Iaminwantofmoney！Ibelievethatyousometimesareinwantofmoney，too。“ EverybodyknowsthatnobodyknowswhereIvorDacregetshismoneyfrom，sotheallusionmusthavetickledhimimmensely。 “You’reacoolhand，“hesaid。 “Somemenarebornthatway。“ “SoIshouldimagine。Menlikeyoumustbeborn，notmade。“ “Precisely——asyousay！“Thestrangerturned，withhisgracefulsmile，totheduke:“Butarewenotwastingprecioustime？Icanassureyourgracethat，inthisparticularmatter，momentsareofvalue。“ Mr。Dacreinterposedbeforethedukecouldanswer。 “Ifyoutakemystronglyurgedadvice，Datchet，youwillsummonthisconstablewhoisnowcomingdowntheArcade，andhandthisgentlemanovertohiskeeping。Idonotthinkthatyouneedfearthattheduchesswillloseherarm，orevenherlittlefinger。 Scoundrelsofthisone’skidneyaremostamenabletoreasonwhentheyhavehandcuffsontheirwrists。“ Thedukeplainlyhesitated。Hewould——andhewouldnot。Thestranger，asheeyedhim，seemedmuchamused。 “Mydearduke，byallmeansactonMr。Dacre’svaluablesuggestion。 AsIsaidbefore，whynot？Itwouldatleastbeinterestingtoseeiftheduchessdoesordoesnotloseherarm——almostasinterestingtoyouastoMr。Dacre。Thoseblackmailing，kidnapingscoundrelsdousesuchemptymenaces。Besides，youwouldhavethepleasureofseeingmelockedup。Myimprisonmentforlifewouldrecompenseyouevenforthelossofhergrace’sarm。Andfivehundredpoundsissuchasumtohavetopay——merelyforawife！Whynot，therefore，actonMr。Dacre’ssuggestion？Herecomestheconstable。“Theconstablereferredtowasadvancingtowardthem——hewasnotadozenyardsaway。“Letmebeckontohim——Iwillwithpleasure。“Hetookouthiswatch——agoldchronographrepeater。“TherearescarcelytenminutesleftduringwhichitwillbepossibleformetosendthecommunicationwhichIspokeof，sothatitmayarriveintime。